


Hoofbeats In The Dawn

by coralysendria



Category: The Legend of Sleepy Hollow - Washington Irving
Genre: Creepy, Halloween, Horror
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-25
Updated: 2015-10-25
Packaged: 2018-04-28 03:38:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,088
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5076325
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/coralysendria/pseuds/coralysendria
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"You really shouldn't run before dawn on the morning after Halloween," the landlady said.  "It can be dangerous."</p>
            </blockquote>





	Hoofbeats In The Dawn

Jane ran easily down the trail, delighting in the smooth strength of her body. It was chilly in the November pre-dawn; her breath misted in front of her face. She half-expected her head-lamp to reveal toilet paper garlanding the trees, but apparently the teenagers had left this wooded trail alone. Probably they preferred to lurk on overpasses and drop eggs on passing cars. 

Jane liked jogging in the early mornings, though it wouldn't be too long before snow put an end to her excursions. When she was running, she didn't have to think about anything other than the trail beneath her feet, her pacing and her own strength. She didn't have to think about work, about that weasel Curtis trying to undermine her efforts with the big bosses. She didn't have to think about the noisy neighbors next door. And she especially didn't have to think about Bradley. 

Bradley was a difficulty, there was no getting around that. She wasn't sure what she felt for him now, if anything. That was one reason why they'd left the rat warren of the city for this sleepy Hudson Valley village. They were trying a week's vacation together in the tiny bed and breakfast to see if they still worked together away from the pressures of their lives, to see if there was anything left of their relationship to salvage. So far, Jane didn't think so.

She ran on, really warmed up now..."in the zone," as they said. She liked "the zone." She'd be happy to stay there for a while, but before long, no matter how she tried to avoid it, she was thinking again.

Dammit! She didn't want to be thinking.

Resolutely, she turned her mind away from thoughts of Brad. Mrs. Kimble, the B&B's friendly owner had seemed upset last night when she'd asked if Jane were planning to go running this morning. 

"You really shouldn't run before dawn on the morning after Halloween," she'd said. "It can be dangerous."

"The ghosties and ghoulies should be in their beds by then," Jane said.

"Not all of them." Mrs. Kimble's brow furrowed and she laid a motherly hand on Jane's arm. "I'd just feel better, my dear, if I knew you were tucked up safe with your boyfriend tomorrow morning."

"I'll think about it," Jane promised. But then she and Bradley had that argument, and all she'd wanted to do was get away from him. She was relatively certain that Mrs. Kimble knew all about the argument. Fortunately, with the fall foliage pretty much gone, the B&B was empty save for herself and Brad, so at least no one else knew about it. She knew that Mrs. Kimble wouldn't betray the fact that she'd heard them shouting.

So Jane was running down this tree-lined path in the pre-dawn chill of November's first morning, the beam from her lamp lighting her way, trying to decide what to do about her boyfriend. It wasn't a paved path, but packed earth covered with damp leaves, which made her footfalls sound a little odd, and as she listened to them, she did not at first hear the other sound. But little by little, it impinged on her consciousness, sounding for all the world like hooves coming up behind her. Her mouth tightened in annoyance at the thought of sharing her solitary morning ritual with someone else, but then she shook her head slightly. The rider had as much right to be exercising this morning as she did, and probably more right to the path -- she thought she might have passed out of the park into someone's private property, though she hadn't seen any signs.

The clip-clopping came steadily up behind her. Whoever it was, they weren't in any hurry this morning; they just seemed to be walking along. Still even a walking horse was likely to overtake her sooner or later, so she moved over to the edge of the trail.  
 _Clip-clop. Clip-clop. Clip-clop._

If she didn't know better, she'd swear the rider was pacing her. She glanced behind, but couldn't see anything. Well, no surprise, really. The path did twist a bit; the rider was probably just around the bend. The sound of the hooves would still carry.

She ran on. Slowly, so that she didn't notice at first, the trail narrowed, the trees pulling in and overhanging the path until it was almost like running through a dark, chilly tunnel. Uneasiness stirred and she thought it might be time to turn around and go back...but she suddenly felt unwilling to face the rider. When she saw the fork in the path, she was absurdly pleased; if she recalled her maps properly, after a wide arc, the right fork doubled back toward the parking area where she'd left her car. She jogged gratefully down the right-hand path.

Though it was darker here, she felt more at ease, especially when the sound of hooves faded and was left behind.

The path began its wide, graceful curve, and Jane ran down the center, knowing that she was less likely to trip over something in the dark. She was just contemplating what Mrs. Kimble might be cooking for breakfast when something moved in the darkness ahead of her. 

She heard the clopping of hooves and a horse snorted. Damn. The rider must have taken the other fork and somehow gotten ahead of her -- it certainly wouldn't take much for a local person with more familiarity with the land to do so.

Oh, well. Best put a good face on it. "Good morning," she called.

The rider reined in the horse, then slowly turned toward Jane. Her eyes widened as she took in what faced her, outlined in the light of her jogger's lamp. And then her nerve broke. She screamed and fled.

The horse broke into a gallop, the hooves thundering behind her. There was no way Jane could outrun it. No way. No way....

~*~

Searchers had no difficulty finding the missing woman's body. Her car was right where she'd left it and the body lay on the path. The head was a little harder to find -- it had bounced and rolled away, but eventually one of the searchers called out and sheriff's deputies appeared to collect it.

The searchers were all locals; not one of them was surprised to find the body surrounded by hoofmarks, nor were they surprised that the marks didn't lead anywhere, as if horse and horseman had simply evaporated with the dawn.

As perhaps they had.

**Author's Note:**

> This was written around a decade ago and originally posted on LiveJournal. It was my first attempt at writing anything approaching horror. I don't think it's particularly scary, but I'm told that it is. I guess it's kind of like not thinking that something you wrote is funny when people are rolling on the floor with tears in their eyes.
> 
> I suppose it's technically fan fic of "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow," though I've always thought of it more as an original work.


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